WO2011092896A1 - プリンタ - Google Patents

プリンタ Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2011092896A1
WO2011092896A1 PCT/JP2010/067347 JP2010067347W WO2011092896A1 WO 2011092896 A1 WO2011092896 A1 WO 2011092896A1 JP 2010067347 W JP2010067347 W JP 2010067347W WO 2011092896 A1 WO2011092896 A1 WO 2011092896A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
lens
detection
sheet
lenticular
sensors
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/JP2010/067347
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
直樹 吉田
Original Assignee
富士フイルム株式会社
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by 富士フイルム株式会社 filed Critical 富士フイルム株式会社
Priority to JP2011508737A priority Critical patent/JP4774474B1/ja
Priority to US13/121,945 priority patent/US8217972B2/en
Priority to CN2010800048886A priority patent/CN102282512A/zh
Publication of WO2011092896A1 publication Critical patent/WO2011092896A1/ja

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
    • B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/0045—Guides for printing material
    • B41J11/005—Guides in the printing zone, e.g. guides for preventing contact of conveyed sheets with printhead
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/008—Controlling printhead for accurately positioning print image on printing material, e.g. with the intention to control the width of margins
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J13/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in short lengths, e.g. sheets
    • B41J13/0009—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in short lengths, e.g. sheets control of the transport of the copy material
    • B41J13/0027—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in short lengths, e.g. sheets control of the transport of the copy material in the printing section of automatic paper handling systems
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
    • G03B35/00—Stereoscopic photography
    • G03B35/14—Printing apparatus specially adapted for conversion between different types of record
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
    • G03B35/00—Stereoscopic photography
    • G03B35/18—Stereoscopic photography by simultaneous viewing
    • G03B35/24—Stereoscopic photography by simultaneous viewing using apertured or refractive resolving means on screens or between screen and eye

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a printer for creating a print that can be stereoscopically viewed with the naked eye, and more particularly to a printer that corrects the posture of a lenticular sheet to prevent skewing.
  • a technique in which a stereoscopic image can be observed using a lenticular sheet in which a large number of lenticular lenses are arranged in the left-right direction. This is because, on the back side of the lenticular sheet, for example, linear images obtained by dividing an R viewpoint image and an L viewpoint image taken from two left and right viewpoints into linear (stripe) shapes are alternately arranged and one lenticular sheet is provided. Two adjacent linear images are positioned under the lens.
  • a stereoscopic image can be observed by observing the R viewpoint image and the L viewpoint image with parallax through the lenticular lenses by the left eye and the right eye. Further, by capturing N (N is 3 or more) viewpoint images, dividing these into linear shapes, and arranging N linear images side by side behind one lenticular lens, a stereoscopic effect is obtained. It is also known to improve further.
  • the lenticular sheet When recording a linear image on the back of a lenticular sheet using a printer, the lenticular sheet is intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. Immediately after each intermittent conveyance, the recording head is driven, and linear images extending in the main scanning direction are sequentially recorded on the lenticular sheet. As a result, at least two types of viewpoint images with parallax are recorded on the back surface of the lenticular sheet (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
  • the lenticular sheet when recording a plurality of viewpoint images on the back side of the lenticular sheet, the lenticular sheet may be conveyed in an inclined state. This is called skew.
  • the image recording since the image recording is performed in a state where the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens and the main scanning direction do not coincide with each other, the recording quality is remarkably deteriorated.
  • various devices In order to prevent the deterioration of recording quality due to the skew of the lenticular sheet, various devices have been conventionally made.
  • Patent Document 3 describes a printer in which an optical sensor is provided in the vicinity of the recording head, the position of the lenticular lens is detected by the optical sensor, and the position for recording the image of the lenticular sheet is adjusted based on the position detection result. Has been. Even when the lenticular sheet is skewed, the image recording position can be adjusted in correspondence with this skewing.
  • Patent Document 4 describes a printer that corrects the posture of a lenticular sheet in advance to prevent skew during recording.
  • This printer detects the inclination angle of the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens with respect to the main scanning direction, and rotates the lenticular sheet around an axis perpendicular to the conveyance surface according to the detection result.
  • two optical sensors arranged in the scanning direction are provided in the sheet conveyance path. Each optical sensor outputs a detection signal corresponding to the unevenness of the lenticular lens. The tilt angle of the lenticular lens is obtained from these detection signals.
  • the tilt direction of the lenticular lens is determined from the time difference when the leading ends of the lenticular sheets are detected by both optical sensors.
  • a method of calculating the tilt angle is also conceivable.
  • the tilt angle of the lenticular lens cannot be accurately detected when the tip of the lenticular sheet and the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens are not parallel due to various causes such as manufacturing errors.
  • the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens cannot be aligned with the main scanning direction.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide a printer that accurately detects the tilt angle and tilt direction of a lenticular lens and corrects the attitude of the lenticular sheet with high accuracy.
  • a printer includes a conveyance unit, a recording unit, at least first to third detection sensors, a posture adjustment unit, and a control unit, and prevents skewing of the lenticular sheet.
  • a plurality of viewpoint images are recorded on the lenticular sheet.
  • the lenticular sheet has a plurality of lenticular lenses formed on the surface extending in the main scanning direction.
  • the conveyance unit conveys the lenticular sheet along a conveyance path extending in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.
  • the recording unit divides a plurality of viewpoint images into linear images parallel to the main scanning direction and records them on the back surface of the lenticular sheet.
  • the first to third detection sensors are arranged in the transport path in a line along the main scanning direction, and output detection signals corresponding to the unevenness of the lenticular lens. These first to third detection sensors are arranged so that at least one of the three intervals formed therebetween is different from the other two intervals.
  • the posture adjusting unit adjusts the posture of the lenticular sheet on the conveyance path.
  • the control unit obtains the inclination direction and angle of the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens with respect to the main scanning direction based on the detection signal of each detection sensor before recording by the recording unit.
  • the control unit controls the posture adjusting unit based on the obtained tilt direction and angle, and the posture of the lenticular sheet is set so that the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens is substantially parallel to the main scanning direction. To correct.
  • the inclination direction is obtained from detection signals of the first to third detection sensors, and the inclination angle is obtained from detection signals of two detection sensors.
  • the posture adjustment unit performs posture correction of the lenticular sheet (correction of tilt of the lenticular lens) in two stages: coarse adjustment and fine adjustment.
  • the posture of the lenticular sheet is roughly adjusted from the first inclination direction and the first inclination angle obtained first.
  • the control unit obtains a second tilt direction and a second tilt angle.
  • the posture of the lenticular sheet is finely adjusted based on the second tilt direction and the second tilt angle.
  • the first inclination angle is obtained from the detection signals of the two detection sensors having a narrow interval
  • the second inclination angle is obtained from the detection signals of the two detection sensors having a wide interval.
  • the conveyance length of the lenticular sheet in a period from when either one of the two detection sensors used for the coarse adjustment detects the arbitrary lenticular lens until the other detects the lenticular lens is measured.
  • the regulation guide regulates the posture of the lenticular sheet on the conveyance path so that the conveyance length is smaller than one lens pitch of the lenticular lens.
  • the two detection sensors used for the coarse adjustment have a conveyance length of the lenticular sheet in a period from when one of the lenticular lenses is detected until the other is detected by the other.
  • the distance between the two detection sensors is determined so as to be smaller than one lens pitch of the lenticular lens.
  • the interval between the first detection sensor and the second detection sensor and the interval between the second detection sensor and the third detection sensor may have a prime number relationship having no common divisor other than “1”. desirable.
  • the printer drives a recording unit to record a test image elongated in the main scanning direction on the lenticular sheet, and after recording the test image, the lenticular sheet is the first to third.
  • a shift amount detection unit that detects a shift amount of a relative position of each detection sensor in the sub-scanning direction.
  • the control unit obtains the inclination angle and the inclination direction when it is assumed that the relative positions of the detection sensors are aligned from the detection signals of the detection sensors based on the detection result of the deviation amount detection unit. .
  • the controller determines the lens pitch of the lenticular lens based on the transport length of the lenticular sheet transported during one cycle of the detection signal and the tilt angle determined previously.
  • the posture adjusting unit includes a clamper that clamps a tip of the lenticular sheet, and a rotation mechanism that rotates the clamper on the transport surface of the transport path.
  • the first to third detection sensors include a light emitting unit that emits light toward the lenticular sheet, and a light receiving unit that receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit.
  • the printer of the present invention three or more detection sensors are arranged in a line along the main scanning direction in the conveyance path of the lenticular sheet so that at least one of the intervals is different from any of the other intervals. Therefore, the tilt direction and tilt angle of the lenticular lens can be accurately obtained based on the detection signals output from the respective detection sensors. Thereby, the posture correction of the lenticular sheet can be performed so that the longitudinal direction of the lenticular lens is parallel to the main scanning direction.
  • the inclination correction is performed based on the inclination angle obtained from the detection signals of the two detection sensors adjacent to each other, and a distance larger than the distance between the two detection sensors used for the coarse adjustment is provided. Therefore, the tilt angle can be easily calculated because it is divided into two stages, that is, fine adjustment executed based on the tilt angle obtained from the detection signals of the two detection sensors arranged in the above manner. As a result, posture correction can be performed in a short time.
  • the amount of deviation of the relative position of each detection sensor in the sub-scanning direction is detected, and based on this detection result, the inclination angle and the inclination direction when it is assumed that the relative position of each detection sensor is aligned are obtained.
  • the accuracy of the sensor mounting position can be made rough. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the printer can be reduced.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a printer of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a lenticular sheet. It is a top view of an azimuth angle detection part. It is a side view of an azimuth angle detection part. It is explanatory drawing of the detection signal output from each lens sensor. It is a perspective view of a clamp unit.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a printer. It is explanatory drawing explaining the distance of a 1st lens sensor and a 2nd lens sensor. It is explanatory drawing explaining the inclination direction detection process in case the lenticular lens inclines counterclockwise.
  • the printer 2 records a parallax image (a collection of a plurality of viewpoint images) for observing a stereoscopic image on the back surface of a lenticular sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) 3 by a sublimation method.
  • the printer 2 converts the two viewpoint images into six viewpoint images, and records these six viewpoint images on the sheet 3.
  • the sheet 3 has a large number of semi-cylindrical lenticular lenses (hereinafter simply referred to as lenses) 4 arranged on the surface side, and the back surface is flat as is well known.
  • Each lens 4 extends in the main scanning direction.
  • an image region 5 is virtually divided for each lens 4, and one image region 5 corresponds to one lens 4.
  • Each image region 5 is partitioned in the arrangement direction of the lenses 4 according to the number of viewpoint images.
  • linear images obtained by dividing the six viewpoint images into linear shapes are recorded in the first to sixth minute regions 5a to 5f, respectively.
  • Each minute area 5a to 5f has a one-to-one correspondence with the first to sixth viewpoint images.
  • each of the minute regions 5a to 5f has a width (length in the sub-scanning direction) of 42 ⁇ m, and the width of one linear image is 20 ⁇ m. Therefore, for example, two adjacent lines (two linear images) in the first viewpoint image are recorded side by side in the first minute region 5a.
  • the printer 2 is provided with a conveyance path 12 for conveying the sheet 3 supplied from the conveyance port 11.
  • the sheet 3 is transported in the direction in which the lenses 4 are arranged (sub-scanning direction) with the lens 4 facing down.
  • the feeding of the sheet 3 may be automatically performed by a feeding mechanism from a cassette in which the sheets 3 are stacked, or the sheet 3 may be manually inserted into the conveyance port 11.
  • the size of the lens 4 is drawn exaggerated from the actual size.
  • the feed roller pair 15 includes a capstan roller 15 a that is rotationally driven by a motor 21 and a pinch roller 15 b that presses against the capstan roller 15 a and sandwiches the sheet 3, and conveys the sheet 3 toward the clamp unit 19. To do.
  • the pinch roller 15 b moves between a nip position where the sheet 3 is nipped with the capstan roller 15 a and a release position away from the sheet 3.
  • the clamp unit 19 includes a clamper 23, a clamper opening / closing mechanism 24, and a clamper drive mechanism 25.
  • the clamper opening / closing mechanism 24 switches the clamper 23 between a closed state in which the leading end of the sheet 3 is clamped and an open state in which the clamp is released.
  • the clamper driving mechanism 25 reciprocates the clamper 23 horizontally along the transport path 12. Thereby, the sheet 3 clamped by the clamper 23 reciprocates in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.
  • the clamper 23 moves between a clamp position where the sheet 3 is clamped and released, and a terminal position downstream of the clamp position. Further, the clamper driving mechanism 25 rotates the clamper 23 around an axis perpendicular to the transport surface of the transport path 12. Thereby, the sheet
  • the transport path 12 on the upstream side of the platen roller 17 is provided with a return transport path 12a extending obliquely downward toward the upstream side.
  • a discharge port (not shown) for discharging the recorded sheet 3 is provided at the leading end of the return conveyance path 12a.
  • the return conveyance path 12a receives the sheet 3 returned to the upstream side during printing.
  • the return conveyance path 12a guides the sheet 3 to the paper discharge port after the printing is completed.
  • the thermal head 16 and the platen roller 17 are arranged so as to sandwich the conveyance path 12.
  • two rows of heating element arrays 16a are formed in which a large number of heating elements are arranged in a line in the main scanning direction.
  • Two adjacent linear images (two lines) in the same viewpoint image can be recorded simultaneously by providing two rows of the heating element arrays 16a adjacent to each other.
  • two linear images are arranged in the sub-scanning direction by feeding the width (42 ⁇ m) of the micro area, and recorded on the back surface of the sheet 3. .
  • Each heating element array 16a has a length in the main scanning direction that is slightly larger than the width of the recording area on the sheet 3 (length in the main scanning direction).
  • the thermal head 16 includes a pressure contact position where the recording film is pressed against the back surface of the sheet 3 on the platen roller 17 and a retreat position where the recording film is retreated upward from the pressure contact position. Move between.
  • This recording film is composed of an image receiving layer film 27, an ink film 28, and a back layer film 29.
  • Each of the films 27 to 29 has a width that is substantially the same as the length of the heating element array 16a in the main scanning direction, and has a length that allows a plurality of sheets 3 to be recorded.
  • the films 27 to 29 are attached to a film exchange mechanism 30 disposed so as to surround the thermal head 16.
  • the film exchange mechanism 30 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and a pair of spools around which the films 27 to 29 are wound are attached to the outer periphery thereof.
  • the film exchange mechanism 30 rotates when the thermal head 16 is in the retracted position, and moves any one of the films 27 to 29 directly below the thermal head 16.
  • the film set on the thermal head 16 is sent from one spool to the other spool and wound up in synchronization with the conveyance of the sheet 3.
  • the image receiving layer film 27 is for forming an image receiving layer (underlying layer) to which the color ink from the ink film 28 is attached on the back surface of the sheet 3.
  • the image-receiving layer film 27 is formed by transferring a transparent image-receiving layer to the back surface of the sheet 3 when heated by the thermal head 16 in a state of being superimposed on the back surface of the sheet 3.
  • the ink film 28 is a well-known sublimation type ink film, and a yellow ink region, a magenta ink region, and a cyan ink region are formed in that order in the longitudinal direction. Each ink area has almost the same size as the back surface of the sheet 3.
  • yellow, magenta, and cyan inks are sublimated and transferred to the image receiving layer.
  • the ink adhesion amount increases or decreases according to the heat generation amount of the thermal head 16, and expresses a halftone.
  • the back layer film 29 is formed by transferring a white back layer onto the image when it is heated by the thermal head 16 while being superimposed on the image recorded on the sheet 3. This back layer reflects light so that a bright and vivid color stereoscopic image can be observed.
  • the head drive unit 32 drives each heating element of the thermal head 16.
  • the head driving unit 32 drives the thermal head 16 so that all the heat generating elements generate the same heat generation amount.
  • This calorific value is a value necessary for transferring the image receiving layer or the back layer.
  • the head driving unit 32 records a full-color image in three-color plane order. In this case, each heating element is heated based on the image data of the six viewpoint images, and the ink density according to the image data is obtained.
  • the azimuth angle detection unit 18 optically detects the tilt direction (azimuth direction) of the lens formed on the sheet 3 and the lens azimuth angle ⁇ (hereinafter simply referred to as azimuth angle ⁇ ) of the lens 4.
  • the tilt direction is a tilt direction in the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 with respect to the main scanning direction.
  • the azimuth angle ⁇ is the magnitude of the inclination angle in the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 with respect to the main scanning direction (see FIGS. 8 and 9).
  • the azimuth angle detection unit 18 includes first to third lens sensors 34, 35, and 36 arranged in a line in the main scanning direction.
  • the first lens sensor 34 is provided at a position facing one side end of the sheet 3.
  • the third lens sensor 36 is provided at a position facing the other side end of the sheet 3.
  • the second lens sensor 35 is provided closer to the first lens sensor 34 than the center of the first lens sensor 34 and the third lens sensor 36. Accordingly, the distance S2 between the second lens sensor 35 and the third lens sensor 36 is larger than the distance S1 between the first lens sensor 34 and the second lens sensor 35.
  • Reference sign S3 indicates the distance between the first lens sensor 34 and the third lens sensor 36.
  • each of the lens sensors 34 to 36 includes a light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as an LED) 38 disposed below the sheet 3, and a photosensor 39 disposed vertically above the LED 38 and the sheet 3. Consists of.
  • the LED 38 irradiates detection light toward the sheet 3.
  • the photosensor 39 receives the detection light transmitted through the sheet 3 and outputs a detection signal corresponding to the intensity of the detection light.
  • a slit plate 40 is provided between the photo sensor 39 and the sheet 3.
  • the slit plate 40 is formed with a slit hole 40 a that limits the range of detection light emitted from the LED 38.
  • the slit hole 40a is set to have such a width that almost one light of the lens 4 can pass through. As a result, the change in the amount of light when the individual lens 4 passes between the lens sensors 34 to 36 can be made steep. In addition, it is possible to ensure a sufficient amount of detection light irradiated to the photosensor 39.
  • the intensity of the detection light received by the photosensor 39 changes according to the positional relationship between the lens sensors 34 to 36 and the lens 4, and the detection signal also changes accordingly.
  • the detection signal gradually increases after each lens sensor 34 to 36 faces the boundary 4a between the lenses 4 until it faces the vertex 4b of the lens 4.
  • the detection signal becomes a peak when each of the lens sensors 34 to 36 is facing the vertex 4b, gradually decreases thereafter, and then gradually increases again when each of the lens sensors 34 to 36 faces the boundary 4a. Change.
  • the clamper 23 includes a fixed plate 42 and a movable plate 43.
  • the fixed plate 42 is a flat plate whose length in the main scanning direction is about twice the width of the sheet 3 and is arranged in parallel with the conveyance surface.
  • the movable plate 43 rotates between a clamping position where the sheet 3 is clamped with the fixed plate 42 and a clamping release position where the clamping is released.
  • a spring (not shown) is disposed between the fixed plate 42 and the movable plate 43, and the movable plate 43 is biased toward the clamping position by this spring.
  • the clamper opening / closing mechanism 24 includes a cam shaft 45 that rotates the movable plate 43 and a clamp release motor 46 that rotates the cam shaft 45.
  • the cam shaft 45 is disposed in the vicinity of the clamper 23 at the clamp position.
  • the cam shaft 45 pushes up the movable plate 43 against the bias of the spring by the cam 45a and sets the movable plate 43 to the clamping release position, and clamps the movable plate 43 by releasing the push of the movable plate 43 and biasing the spring. It rotates between the position to return to the position.
  • the clamp release motor 46 By rotating the cam shaft 45 by the clamp release motor 46, the movable plate 43 is displaced between the clamping release position and the clamping position, and the clamper 23 is switched between the open state and the closed state.
  • the clamper drive mechanism 25 includes a left motor 49, a right motor 50, a left pulley 51, and a right pulley 52. Each pulley 51, 52 is attached to a rotation shaft that is rotatably provided. A left belt 53 is hung between the left motor 49 and the left pulley 51, and a right belt 54 is hung between the right motor 50 and the right pulley 52.
  • Both ends of the clamper 23 are attached to the left and right belts 53 and 54 so as to be rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the conveying surface. Accordingly, when the left motor 49 and the right motor 50 rotate in the same direction, the clamper 23 is moved in the sub-scanning direction via the left and right belts 53 and 54. Further, when the left motor 49 and the right motor 50 rotate in opposite directions, or when only one rotates, the clamper 23 rotates on the transport surface.
  • the clamper drive mechanism 25 includes a left guide rail 55 and a right guide rail 56, and guides the clamper 23 in the sub-scanning direction.
  • a left skew regulation guide 57 and a right skew regulation guide 58 are arranged inside the left and right guide rails 55 and 56.
  • the left and right skew regulation guides 57 and 58 regulate the skew angle of the sheet 3 fed from the pair of feeding rollers 15 toward the clamp unit 19 to be a predetermined angle or less.
  • the CPU 60 comprehensively controls each unit of the printer 2.
  • the CPU 60 includes a memory 61, a motor driver 62, a roller retracting mechanism 63, a head retracting mechanism 64, and a tip.
  • a detection sensor 65 and the like are connected.
  • the memory 61 stores various programs and data for controlling the printer 2.
  • the CPU 60 controls the printer 2 by reading out these programs and data from the memory 61 and sequentially processing them.
  • the RAM area of the memory 61 functions as a work memory for the CPU 60 to execute processing and a temporary storage location for various data.
  • the motor driver 62 rotates or stops the capstan roller 15a by driving or stopping the motor 21 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 60.
  • the roller retracting mechanism 63 moves the pinch roller 15b to the nip position or the release position in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 60.
  • the head retracting mechanism 64 moves the thermal head 16 to the press contact position or the retracted position in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 60.
  • the tip detection sensor 65 (see FIG. 5) is provided in the vicinity of the upstream side of the clamp position described above.
  • the leading edge detection sensor 65 is an optical sensor similar to the lens sensors 34 to 36, and outputs a detection signal indicating passage to the CPU 60 when it detects that the leading edge of the sheet 3 has passed.
  • the CPU 60 sequentially executes the program read from the memory 61, thereby performing a data conversion unit 67, a head drive control unit 68, a clamper drive control unit 69, a tilt direction determination unit 70, an azimuth angle calculation unit 71, a tilt correction control unit ( (Posture correction control unit) 72 and the like.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69, the tilt direction determination unit 70, the azimuth angle calculation unit 71, and the tilt correction control unit 72 correspond to the control unit of the present invention.
  • the data converter 67 reads the image data of two viewpoint images from the memory 61, performs image processing on these viewpoint images, and converts them into image data of six viewpoints.
  • the head drive control unit 68 controls the driving of the thermal head 16 by the head drive unit 32.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls switching of the closed state / open state of the clamper 23 by the clamper opening / closing mechanism 24.
  • the clamper drive controller 69 controls the movement of the clamper 23 in the sub-scanning direction and the rotation of the clamper 23 by the clamper drive mechanism 25.
  • the tilt direction determination unit 70 analyzes the detection signals output from the first to third lens sensors 34 to 36, and determines the tilt direction when the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 is tilted with respect to the main scanning direction. judge.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the azimuth angle from the detection signals from the first to third lens sensors 34 to 36 and the known distances S1 and S3 between the lens sensors 34 to 36.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 causes the clamper drive control unit 69 to perform tilt correction (posture correction) based on the determination result of the tilt direction determination unit 70 and the calculation result of the azimuth angle calculation unit 71, and the longitudinal direction of the lens 4.
  • the clamper 23 is rotated so that is parallel to the main scanning direction. This inclination correction is executed in two stages, coarse adjustment and fine adjustment.
  • an azimuth angle (hereinafter, referred to as a rough adjustment azimuth angle) is obtained based on the detection signals of the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35 and the distance S1, and the sheet is determined based on the rough adjustment azimuth angle. 3 is rotated to correct the tilt of the lens 4.
  • an azimuth angle (hereinafter referred to as a fine adjustment azimuth angle) is obtained based on the detection signals of the first and third lens sensors 34 and 36 and the distance S3, and the lens 4 is obtained based on the fine adjustment azimuth angle. Correct the tilt.
  • the CPU 60 functions as the above-described units, and also functions as a detection unit that detects the positional relationship between the sheet 3 and the clamper 23 and the positional relationship between the sheet 3 and the heating element array 16a, for example.
  • the positional relationship between the sheet 3 and the clamper 23 is obtained based on the transport amount of the sheet 3 from this reference position, with the position at the time when the detection signal is input from the leading edge detection sensor 65 as a reference position.
  • the positional relationship between the sheet 3 and the heating element array 16a includes the conveyance amount of the sheet 3 from the peak time of the detection signal, the positional relationship in the sub-scanning direction between the lens sensor and the lens 4 at the peak time of the detection signal, and azimuth. It is obtained based on the distance between the angle detector 18 and the heating element array 16a, the lens pitch of the lens 4, and the like.
  • the correction of the inclination of the lens 4 (correction of the posture of the sheet 3) executed in two stages of coarse adjustment and fine adjustment will be specifically described.
  • the same portion (for example, the vertex 4b) of the three different lenses 4 passes through the lens sensors 34 to 36 at the same time.
  • the peaks of the detection signals from the lens sensors 34 to 36 are aligned (see FIG. 13B). In such a case, the inclination of the lens 4 cannot be corrected correctly.
  • the inclination of the lens 4 when the sheet 3 is clamped by the clamper 23 is suppressed to some extent by increasing the accuracy of posture control when the sheet 3 is fed, for example, by the left and right skew regulation guides 57 and 58. Can do.
  • the inclination of the lens 4 is suppressed as follows. As shown in FIG. 7, the conveyance length (first and second lenses) of the sheet 3 until the lens 4 detected by one of the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35 is detected by the other. The difference in the sub-scanning direction from the sensors 34 and 35 to the same lens 4) is defined as a deviation amount ⁇ d1. When one lens pitch of the lens 4 is P0, the posture of the sheet 3 during feeding is controlled so as to satisfy ⁇ d1 ⁇ P0.
  • the lens pitch P0 is 0.254 mm
  • the distance S1 is 30 mm
  • ⁇ d1 is 0.254 mm
  • the distance S3 between the first lens sensor 34 and the third lens sensor 36 is 130 mm
  • the difference in the sub-scanning direction distance from the first and third lens sensors 34, 36 to the same lens 4 is indicated.
  • the distance S1 between the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35 is increased or decreased, the amount of deviation ⁇ d1 is also increased or decreased accordingly. For this reason, instead of controlling the posture of the sheet 3 being fed, the distance S1 may be adjusted such that ⁇ d1 ⁇ P0 is satisfied.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 so that the clamper 23 conveys the sheet 3 in the sub-scanning direction so that the sheet 3 passes through the lens sensors 34 to 36. To do. At this time, detection signals output from the lens sensors 34 to 36 are input to the CPU 60. Then, the inclination correction control unit 72 operates the inclination direction determination unit 70.
  • the tilt direction determination unit 70 analyzes the binarized signals from the first to third lens sensors 34 to 36 to determine the tilt direction of the lens 4. To do.
  • the detection signal is detected at the boundary 4a of the lens 4 in order to prevent complication of the drawing and to clarify the relationship between the lens sensors 34 to 36 and the lens 4 to be detected. Is drawn to be a peak. However, actually, as shown in FIG. 4B, the detection signal has a peak at the apex 4 b of the lens 4.
  • the inclination direction determination unit 70 performs the conveyance length LA of the sheet 3 from the time when the detection signal from the first lens sensor 34 reaches a peak until the time when the detection signal from the second lens sensor 35 reaches a peak thereafter. Ask for.
  • the transport length LA is obtained based on the number of drive pulses supplied to left and right motors (pulse motors) 49 and 50 that are drive sources of the clamper drive mechanism 25.
  • the shift amount ⁇ d1 described in FIG. 7 is less than the lens pitch P0.
  • the transport length LA is set to an arbitrary value for the first lens sensor 34. This is the conveyance length from when the boundary 4a of the lens 4 is detected to when the boundary 4a is detected by the second lens sensor 35.
  • the tilt direction determination unit 70 determines whether or not the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 has a peak at a position corresponding to the transport length LB with reference to the time point when the boundary 4a is detected by the first lens sensor 34 first. Check. When the lens 4 is tilted clockwise, the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 has a peak in the vicinity of the position corresponding to the transport length LB. Therefore, in this case, the tilt direction determination unit 70 determines that the lens 4 is tilted clockwise.
  • the conveyance length LA Is the conveyance length from when the first lens sensor 34 detects the boundary 4a to when the second lens sensor 34 detects the adjacent boundary 4a. Therefore, when the azimuth angle ⁇ is obtained in the same manner as described above based on the transport length LA, a value different from the actual azimuth angle ⁇ of the lens 4 is calculated. Therefore, when the predicted value of the conveyance length LB is calculated based on this calculation result, the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 does not peak at a position corresponding to the conveyance length LB. In this case, the tilt direction determination unit 70 determines that the lens 4 is tilted counterclockwise.
  • the lens sensors 34 to 36 are arranged at equal intervals, for example, even when the lens 4 is tilted counterclockwise as in FIG.
  • the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 reaches a peak at a position corresponding to the predicted conveyance length LB.
  • the tilt direction of the lens 4 cannot be determined. This is determined by the following expressions (a) to (d), the conveyance length LB1 until the boundary 4a previously detected by the third lens sensor 36 is detected by the first lens sensor 34, and the conveyance length LB. This is because the sum of the two becomes twice the waveform pitch p of the detection signal.
  • LA1 in the following expression is a conveyance length until the second lens sensor 35 detects the boundary 4a previously detected by the third lens sensor 36. Therefore, as in the present invention, by arranging the lens sensors 34 to 36 at unequal intervals, the tilt direction of the lens 4 can be accurately determined.
  • S3 2 ⁇ S1
  • the determination result by the tilt direction determination unit 70 is input to the tilt correction control unit 72.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 operates the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 to start calculation of the azimuth angle for rough adjustment.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 uses the time point when the detection signal of the first lens sensor 34 reaches a peak as a reference, and the detection signal of the second lens sensor 34 closest to this reference is obtained. The size of the conveyance length L1 until the peak is obtained. The size of the transport length L1 can also be obtained from the number of drive pulses supplied to the left and right motors 49 and 50. Next, the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the coarse adjustment azimuth angle by substituting the obtained conveyance length L1 in place of the conveyance length LA of the above formula (1).
  • the azimuth angle for rough adjustment is substantially equal to the azimuth angle ⁇ of the actual lens 4 between the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35.
  • the azimuth angle for rough adjustment obtained by the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 is input to the inclination correction control unit 72.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 issues a tilt correction command to the clamper drive control unit 69 so as to correct the tilt of the lens 4 based on the tilt direction of the lens 4 and the coarse adjustment azimuth angle.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to temporarily stop the conveyance of the clamper 23 in the sub-scanning direction, and then the clamper so that the coarse adjustment azimuth angle becomes zero. 23 is rotated. Thereby, the inclination of the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 with respect to the main scanning direction is roughly adjusted.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 and conveys the sheet 3 again in the sub-scanning direction.
  • the inclination correction control unit 72 operates the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 to start calculation of the fine adjustment azimuth angle.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 basically uses the peak of the detection signal corresponding to the first lens sensor 34 as a reference in the same manner as when calculating the coarse adjustment azimuth angle.
  • the conveyance length L2 up to the peak of the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 closest to the reference is obtained.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the azimuth angle for fine adjustment by substituting the obtained conveyance length L2 in place of the conveyance length LA of the above formula (1).
  • the azimuth angle for fine adjustment is substantially equal to the azimuth angle ⁇ of the actual lens 4 between the first and third lens sensors 34 and 36. Note that when the fine adjustment azimuth angle is calculated, since the coarse adjustment has already been performed, the azimuth angle ⁇ of the lens 4 is sufficiently small. Therefore, if the lens 4 is still tilted counterclockwise at this time, the peak of the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 is delayed from the peak of the detection signal of the first lens sensor 34. On the contrary, when the lens 4 is tilted clockwise, the peak of the detection signal of the third lens sensor 36 advances more than the peak of the detection signal of the first lens sensor 34.
  • the azimuth angle for fine adjustment obtained by the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 is input to the inclination correction control unit 72.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 issues a tilt correction command to the clamper drive control unit 69 based on the previously determined tilt direction of the lens 4 and the fine adjustment azimuth angle.
  • the clamper 23 is rotated so that the fine adjustment azimuth angle becomes zero after the transport of the clamper 23 is temporarily stopped as in the case of the coarse adjustment. Thereby, the inclination of the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 with respect to the main scanning direction is finely adjusted.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to convey the sheet 3 in the sub-scanning direction.
  • the inclination correction control unit 72 compares the detection signals from the first to third lens sensors 34 to 36, and ends the inclination correction if the deviation amount of each peak is equal to or less than a predetermined amount. If the amount of deviation exceeds a predetermined amount, coarse adjustment and fine adjustment are performed again. This completes the correction of the inclination of the lens 4.
  • two viewpoint image data obtained by viewing the same scene from different viewpoints are input to an input I / F (not shown) of the printer 2. These two viewpoint images are temporarily stored in the memory 61 as parallax images.
  • the data converter 67 of the CPU 60 reads two viewpoint image data from the memory 61, converts them into six viewpoint image data, and stores them again in the memory 61.
  • the CPU 60 confirms that the thermal head 16 is in the retracted position. Further, the clamper drive control unit 69 of the CPU 60 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 based on the detection result of a rotational position detection sensor of the clamper 23, for example, a rotary encoder or the like (not shown), so that the clamper 23 is in the main scanning direction. And almost parallel. Next, the clamper drive control unit 69 moves the clamper 23 to the clamp position, and then opens the clamper 23 via the clamper opening / closing mechanism 24.
  • a rotational position detection sensor of the clamper 23 for example, a rotary encoder or the like (not shown)
  • one sheet 3 is fed into the conveyance path 12 from the conveyance port 11.
  • the CPU 60 controls the motor driver 62 to rotate the motor 21.
  • the sheet 3 is sandwiched between the rotating feed roller pair 15 and conveyed toward the downstream side of the conveyance path 12.
  • the sheet 3 passes between the thermal head 16 at the retracted position and the platen roller 17, further passes through the azimuth angle detection unit 18, and the leading end thereof reaches the vicinity of the clamper 23 and is detected by the leading end detection sensor 65.
  • the CPU 60 When the leading edge of the sheet 3 is detected by the leading edge detection sensor 65, the CPU 60 further conveys the sheet 3 by a certain length by the feeding roller pair 15, and after the clamper 23 makes the leading edge of the sheet 3 clampable, The rotation of the motor 21 is stopped, and the conveyance of the sheet 3 is stopped.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper opening / closing mechanism 24 to switch the clamper 23 to the closed state. Thereby, the leading edge of the sheet 3 is clamped by the clamper 23.
  • the CPU 60 controls the roller retracting mechanism 63 to release the nip of the sheet 3 by the feeding roller pair 15.
  • the CPU 60 operates the film exchange mechanism 30 to set the image receiving layer film 27 directly below the thermal head 16, and then moves the thermal head 16 to the press contact position via the head retracting mechanism 64. As a result, the thermal head 16 is in a state where the image receiving layer film 27 is pressed against the back surface of the sheet 3.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 moves the clamper 23 toward the downstream side via the clamper drive mechanism 25. Thereby, conveyance of the sheet 3 in the sub-scanning direction is started. In addition, the image receiving layer film 27 is sent accordingly.
  • the CPU 60 monitors the conveyance length of the sheet 3 based on the number of drive pulses supplied to the left and right motors 49 and 50 of the clamper drive mechanism 25.
  • the head drive control unit 68 of the CPU 60 recognizes from the sheet conveyance length that the recording area of the sheet 3 has approached the thermal head 16, the head drive control unit 68 instructs the head drive unit 32 to form an image receiving layer.
  • the head drive unit 32 Based on an instruction from the head drive control unit 68, the head drive unit 32 supplies the common power to the two rows of heat generating element arrays 16a to generate heat, and heats the image receiving layer film 27. As a result, the image receiving layer film 27 is uniformly heated, and the transparent image receiving layer for two lines extending long in the main scanning direction is transferred into, for example, the minute region 5a.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 so as to convey the sheet by a conveyance length corresponding to 1/6 of the previously obtained lens pitch P0. 3 is conveyed downstream.
  • This intermittent conveyance amount corresponds to the recording width of two linear images (for two lines), and is equal to the width of a minute area (42 ⁇ m).
  • the image receiving layer film 27 moves by two lines (P0 / 6). After this movement, the thermal head 16 is driven again to heat the image receiving layer film 27. As a result, a new image receiving layer for two lines is formed in the minute region 5b along with the image receiving layer for two lines formed previously.
  • the image receiving layer formation range is set wider than the image recording range to prevent the image from protruding from the image receiving layer.
  • the tilt direction determination unit 70 detects the detection signals from the lens sensors 34 to 36.
  • the inclination direction of the lens 4 can be determined based on the above.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the azimuth angle for rough adjustment based on the detection signals from the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35 as shown in FIG. .
  • the inclination direction for coarse adjustment and the azimuth angle for coarse adjustment are input to the inclination correction control unit 72.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 starts executing correction based on the tilt direction and the coarse adjustment azimuth angle.
  • the CPU 60 controls the head retracting mechanism 64 to move the thermal head 16 to the retracted position.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to temporarily stop the conveyance of the sheet 3 and the image receiving layer sheet 27.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 issues a tilt correction command to the clamper drive control unit 69.
  • the clamper 23 rotates so that the coarse adjustment azimuth angle becomes zero, so that the posture of the sheet 3 is changed, and the inclination of the lens 4 in the longitudinal direction with respect to the main scanning direction is roughly adjusted.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 conveys the sheet 3 toward the downstream side via the clamper drive mechanism 25.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the azimuth angle for fine adjustment based on the detection signals from the first and third lens sensors 34 and 36 as shown in FIG. To do.
  • the clamper 23 is rotated based on the determination result of the tilt direction and the calculation result of the fine adjustment azimuth angle so that the fine adjustment azimuth angle becomes zero, The inclination of the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 with respect to the main scanning direction is finely adjusted.
  • the correction of the tilt of the lens 4 is performed based on the detection signals from the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35 having a small distance, and the first and third lens sensors 34 and 36 having a large distance.
  • fine adjustment executed on the basis of the detection signal the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 can be adjusted parallel to the main scanning direction.
  • the error between the calculated azimuth angle and the actual azimuth angle ⁇ decreases, so that the inclination of the lens 4 can be corrected more precisely by fine adjustment.
  • the inclination correction can be executed in a short time.
  • the amount of peak shift of the detection signals of the lens sensors 34 to 36 is measured while conveying the sheet 3 toward the downstream side (or upstream side is acceptable). If the amount of deviation is less than or equal to the predetermined amount, it is determined that the inclination correction has been completed. When the amount of deviation exceeds a predetermined amount, it is determined that the inclination correction has not been completed, and the coarse adjustment and the fine adjustment are performed again according to the above-described procedure.
  • the conveyance of the sheet 3 to the downstream side is once stopped, and then the sheet 3 is returned upstream via the clamper driving mechanism 25.
  • the sheet 3 may be conveyed toward the upstream side after being conveyed toward the downstream side until the rear end of the sheet 3 passes through the azimuth angle detection unit 18. During the return of the sheet 3, the sheet 3 enters the return conveyance path 12a.
  • the CPU 60 checks the peak time point of the detection signal for any one of the lens sensors 34 to 37. Based on the conveyance amount of the sheet 3 from the peak time point, the positional relationship between the lens sensor and the lens 4 in the sub-scanning direction at the peak time point, the distance between the azimuth angle detection unit 18 and the heating element array 16a, the lens pitch P0, etc. The positional relationship between the sheet 3 and the heating element array 16a is detected.
  • the lens pitch P0 is a sheet conveyed from one peak of the detection signal to the next peak, for example, during one cycle of the detection signal of any one of the lens sensors 34 to 36. 3 is equal to the transport length. Therefore, the lens pitch P0 can be obtained from the detection signal of any one of the lens sensors 34 to 37.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to stop the conveyance of the sheet 3.
  • the CPU 60 operates the film exchange mechanism 30 to set the ink film 28 immediately below the thermal head 16, and then controls the head retracting mechanism 64 to move the thermal head 16 to the press contact position. At this time, the yellow ink region of the ink film 28 is superimposed on the back surface of the sheet 3.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to convey the sheet 3 again downstream. Also at this time, the CPU 60 continues to monitor the positional relationship between the sheet 3 and the heating element array 16a.
  • the head drive control unit 68 for example, two lines adjacent to the first viewpoint image among the six viewpoint images from the memory 61. Minute yellow images are read out and sent to the head drive unit 32.
  • the head driving unit 32 drives the thermal head 16 based on the yellow image data for two lines to generate heat in the two rows of heating element arrays 16a, and heats the ink film 28 from behind. Thereby, the yellow ink sublimated from the ink film 28 adheres to the image receiving layer in the minute region 5a. As a result, two linear images in the yellow image are recorded side by side in the minute area 5a.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to convey the sheet 3 downstream by a conveyance length corresponding to 1/6 of the lens pitch P0. Together with this sheet 3, the ink film 28 is wound up, and the unused portion is made to face the thermal head 16 instead of the used portion of the yellow ink region.
  • the head drive control unit 68 reads out yellow image data for two adjacent lines in the second viewpoint image from the memory 61 and sends them to the head drive unit 32.
  • the head driving unit 32 generates heat in the two rows of heat generating element arrays 16a, and records two linear images in the yellow image in the minute area 5b.
  • the two rows of the heating element arrays 16a are sequentially heated based on the yellow image data for two lines.
  • two lines of linear images of the first to sixth viewpoint images are recorded in each of the minute regions 5a to 5f.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to stop the conveyance of the sheet 3 by the clamper 23.
  • the CPU 60 controls the head retracting mechanism 64 to move the thermal head 16 to the retracted position.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to return the sheet 3 toward the upstream. During this return, the conveyance is stopped when the leading edge of the recording area passes the position of the thermal head 22.
  • the CPU 60 operates the film exchange mechanism 30 to feed the ink film 28 and set the magenta ink area directly below the thermal head 16. Then, the CPU 60 controls the head retracting mechanism 64 to move the thermal head 16 to the press contact position.
  • the magenta images in the first to sixth viewpoint images are divided into linear images while intermittently transporting the sheet 3 and the ink film 28 to the downstream side, so that the linear image of the yellow image is obtained. Is recorded on the back surface of the sheet 3 in a state of being overlaid on. After completing the recording of the magenta image, a cyan image is recorded on the sheet 3 in the same procedure.
  • the sheet 3 After recording the three-color image in the recording area, the sheet 3 is once returned upstream. At the same time, the back layer film 29 is moved to the use position by the film exchange mechanism 30, and then the thermal head 16 is moved to the press contact position. While intermittently conveying the sheet 3 downstream again, the thermal head 16 is driven to form a back layer on the recording area where the three color images are recorded. This back layer protects the three-color image and increases the reflectivity to make the color vivid.
  • the CPU 60 controls the head retracting mechanism 64 to move the thermal head 22 to the retracted position.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to move the clamper 23 to the clamp position, and feeds the sheet 3 back into the conveyance path 12a.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper opening / closing mechanism 24 to switch the clamper 23 to the open state. Thereby, the clamp of the front-end
  • the above-described processing is repeatedly executed.
  • the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction. This prevents the peaks of the detection signals from the lens sensors 34 to 36 from being aligned.
  • the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment except that the distances between the lens sensors 34 to 36 are different.
  • the second embodiment has the same function and configuration as the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are assigned to and description thereof is omitted (the same applies to the third embodiment).
  • the distance S1 between the first lens sensor 34 and the second lens sensor 35 and the distance S2 between the second lens sensor 35 and the third lens sensor 36 are: Adjustments have been made so that there is a prime number relationship with no common divisor other than “1”.
  • the lens sensors 34 to 36 can be adjusted regardless of whether the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction.
  • the detection signal peaks are prevented from being aligned.
  • the degree of freedom of arrangement of the lens sensors 34 to 36 can be increased.
  • the correction of the tilt of the lens 4 in the second embodiment may be performed in two stages as in the first embodiment. Further, the sheet 3 may be rotated with reference to the detection signals from the lens sensors 34 to 36 until the peaks of the detection signals are aligned. In this case, the arithmetic processing as in the first embodiment is not necessary, and the state where the peaks of the detection signals from the lens sensors 34 to 36 are specified is specified, so that there is no possibility of erroneous detection.
  • the detection signal peaks from the lens sensors 34 to 36 are aligned even though the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction. To prevent.
  • the third embodiment is the same as the second embodiment in that the intervals S1 and S2 of the first to third lens sensors 34 to 36 are adjusted.
  • the third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that left and right skew regulation guides 57 and 58 provided on the downstream side of the thermal head 16 are used.
  • the skew angle of the seat 3 is regulated by left and right skew regulation guides 57 and 58 so that the seat 3 does not tilt more than a predetermined angle.
  • the distance S1 and the distance S2 are expressed by the following equations (3) and (4), respectively. It is adjusted to satisfy.
  • the upper limit number of the lenses 4 that the straight lines Ls passing through the lens sensors 34 to 36 simultaneously span is “n”, and any natural number “2” or more and “n” or less is “M”.
  • a printer 80 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
  • the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the thermal head 16 (hereinafter simply referred to as relative positions) are detected, and the obtained relative position deviation is taken into consideration. To correct the tilt.
  • the printer 80 has the same configuration as that of the printer 2 of the first embodiment, and the same functions and configurations as those of the printer 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
  • the printer 80 has, as an operation mode, a shift detection mode for detecting a shift in the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 with respect to the thermal head 16 in addition to a recording mode for recording an image on the sheet 3. This operation mode switching is performed by an operation unit (not shown).
  • the CPU 81 of the printer 80 includes a head drive control unit 82, a clamper drive control unit 83, a correction amount determination unit 84, and a tilt direction determination. Functions as the unit 85 and the azimuth angle calculation unit 86.
  • the head drive control unit 82 and the clamper drive control unit 83 are the same as the head drive control unit 68 and the clamper drive control unit 69 of the first embodiment.
  • the head drive control unit 82 and the clamper drive control unit 83 control the head drive unit 32, the clamper drive mechanism 25, etc. in the deviation detection mode, respectively, and test the test image 88 (see FIG. 18) that extends long in the main scanning direction. After recording on the test sheet, the test sheet is conveyed toward the lens sensors 34 to 36. Note that the same test sheet as the sheet 3 shown in FIG. 1 is used.
  • the correction amount determination unit 84 operates when the test sheet is conveyed toward the lens sensors 34 to 36 after the test image 88 is recorded.
  • the correction amount determination unit 84 detects a shift in the relative position of each lens sensor 34 to 36 with respect to the thermal head 16 based on the detection signal of each lens sensor 34 to 36. Based on the detection result, the correction amount determination unit 84 determines a correction amount for correcting the conveyance lengths LA, LB, L1, and L2 obtained from the detection signals of the lens sensors 34 to 36 when the inclination is corrected. To do.
  • correction amounts obtained by the correction amount determination unit 84 are, for example, correction amounts H1 and H2 indicating the positional shift amounts of the second lens sensor 35 and the third lens sensor 36 with respect to the first lens sensor 34 in the sub-scanning direction. Consists of. These correction amounts H1 and H2 are stored in the memory 61 or the like.
  • the inclination direction determination unit 85 and the azimuth angle calculation unit 86 are the same as the inclination direction determination unit 70 and the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 of the first embodiment.
  • the tilt direction determination unit 85 and the azimuth angle calculation unit 86 correct the conveyance lengths LA, LB, L1, and L2 obtained from the detection signals of the lens sensors 34 to 36 in the recording mode based on the correction amounts H1 and H2.
  • the correction amount is adjusted to the conveyance lengths LA and L1. Add H1 respectively.
  • the operation mode of the printer 80 is switched to the displacement detection mode.
  • the test sheet After switching to the deviation detection mode, as described in the first embodiment, the test sheet is fed into the conveyance path 12 from the conveyance port 11, and the test sheet is clamped by the clamper 23 toward the downstream. And an image receiving layer is formed on the back surface of the test sheet. After the formation of the image receiving layer, the test sheet is conveyed upstream to a position where the leading end of the recording area passes through the thermal head 22.
  • the CPU 60 operates the film exchange mechanism 30 to set the ink film 28 directly below the thermal head 16, and then controls the head retracting mechanism 64 to move the thermal head 16 to the pressure contact position.
  • the color of the ink region superimposed on the back surface of the test sheet is not particularly limited.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 and conveys the test sheet downstream.
  • the head drive control unit 68 controls the head drive unit 32 at an arbitrary timing after the test sheet conveyance is started to generate heat in the two rows of the heating element arrays 16a, whereby the ink film 28 is heated. Thereby, a linear image for two lines extending long in the main scanning direction is recorded on the image receiving layer.
  • conveyance of a distance (P / 6) corresponding to two lines to the downstream side of the test sheet and recording of a linear image for two lines are alternately performed a predetermined number of times.
  • a test image 88 is recorded in an arbitrary area on the back surface of the test sheet.
  • the test image 88 extends long in the main scanning direction and has an edge parallel to the main scanning direction regardless of the inclination of the test sheet and the lens 4.
  • the main scanning direction can be determined using the edge of the test image 88 as a reference.
  • the clamper drive control unit 69 controls the clamper drive mechanism 25 to convey the clamper 23 downstream. As a result, the test sheet is conveyed toward the lens sensors 34 to 36.
  • the correction amount determination unit 84 starts monitoring the detection signals from the lens sensors 34 to 36. Until the lens 4 on the test sheet reaches the positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36, the detection signals output from the lens sensors 34 to 36 are maximized. Next, when the lens 4 passes through the positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36, the detection signals of the lens sensors 34 to 36 vary according to the unevenness of the lens 4. When the test image 88 on the test sheet reaches the positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36, the detection signals output from the lens sensors 34 to 36 are minimized.
  • the correction amount determination unit 84 starts recording the test image 88 for each of the lens sensors 34 to 36 until the test image 88 is detected.
  • the test sheet conveyance lengths L ⁇ , L ⁇ , and L ⁇ are obtained. Since the edge of the test image 88 is parallel to the main scanning direction, if the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 with respect to the thermal head 16 are aligned, the transport lengths L ⁇ , L ⁇ , and L ⁇ are all the same size. . On the contrary, if the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 are shifted, the conveyance lengths L ⁇ , L ⁇ , and L ⁇ are different in size.
  • the correction amount determination unit 84 can detect the displacement of the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 with respect to the thermal head 16 by comparing the sizes of the transport lengths L ⁇ , L ⁇ , and L ⁇ . Next, the correction amount determination unit 84 calculates the difference between the transport length L ⁇ and the transport lengths L ⁇ and L ⁇ , and determines the correction amounts H1 and H2, respectively.
  • the correction amounts H1 and H2 are stored in the memory 61 and used for actual printing.
  • the transport lengths L ⁇ , L ⁇ , and L ⁇ in this case are transport lengths from when the test sheet 88 is detected by the lens sensors 34 to 36 after the test sheet is transported to the downstream side again. is there.
  • the test sheet After storing the correction amounts H1 and H2, the test sheet is discharged from the discharge port in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
  • the correction amount H1 and H2 determination processing is thus completed.
  • the inclination direction determination unit 70 conveys the sheet 3 from the peak of the detection signal corresponding to the first lens sensor 34 to the peak of the detection signal corresponding to the second lens sensor 35 thereafter. Find LA. Next, the tilt direction determination unit 70 corrects the transport length LA based on the correction amount H1 in the memory 61.
  • the tilt direction determination unit 70 uses the calculation formulas (1) and (2) based on the corrected conveyance length LA and the distance S1 between the first and second lens sensors 34 and 35. Thus, the predicted value of the conveyance length LB until the boundary 4a previously detected by the first lens sensor 34 is detected by the third lens sensor 34 is obtained. Next, the inclination direction determination unit 70 corrects the transport length LB based on the correction amount H2 in the memory 61.
  • the tilt direction of the lens 4 is determined, and the determination result is input to the tilt correction control unit 72.
  • the tilt correction control unit 72 uses the corrected conveyance lengths LA and LB, the inclination direction when it is assumed that the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 are aligned is determined.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 After determining the tilt direction, the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 operates to start calculating the coarse adjustment azimuth angle. As shown in FIG. 11A, the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 uses the detection signal peak corresponding to the first lens sensor 34 as a reference, and reaches the detection signal peak of the second lens sensor 34 closest to the reference. The size of the transport length L1 is obtained. Next, the transport length L1 is corrected based on the correction amount H1 in the memory 61. Then, the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the azimuth angle for rough adjustment based on the corrected conveyance length L1 as in the first embodiment.
  • the clamper 23 is rotated so that the azimuth angle for coarse adjustment becomes zero, and the inclination in the longitudinal direction of the lens 4 with respect to the main scanning direction is coarsely adjusted.
  • the sheet 3 is conveyed downstream.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 starts calculating the fine adjustment azimuth angle.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 uses the detection signal peak corresponding to the first lens sensor 34 as a reference, and reaches the detection signal peak of the third lens sensor 36 closest to the reference.
  • the conveyance length L2 is obtained.
  • the transport length L2 is corrected based on the correction amount H2 in the memory 61.
  • the azimuth angle calculation unit 71 calculates the azimuth angle for fine adjustment based on the corrected transport length L2 as in the first embodiment.
  • the clamper 23 is rotated so that the fine adjustment azimuth angle becomes zero to finely adjust the inclination of the lens 4 in the longitudinal direction with respect to the main scanning direction. After this fine adjustment, each linear image is recorded on the back surface of the sheet 3 for a plurality of viewpoint images as described above.
  • the azimuth angles for coarse adjustment and fine adjustment when it is assumed that the relative positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 are aligned are determined. Can do. As a result, the accuracy of the mounting positions of the lens sensors 34 to 36 can be made rough. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the printer 80 can be reduced. In addition, since the relative positional relationship between each of the lens sensors 34 to 36 and the heating element array 16a can be grasped, a linear image can be recorded at an intended recording position.
  • the lens pitch P0 is obtained after correcting the tilt of the lens 4.
  • the lens pitch P0 is calculated at the same time. Good.
  • the coarse adjustment azimuth angle or the fine adjustment azimuth angle is ⁇ 1
  • the conveyance length of the sheet 3 conveyed from any peak of the detection signals of any of the lens sensors 34 to 36 to the next peak is P1.
  • the azimuth angle detection unit 18 is configured by the first to third lens sensors 34 to 36 arranged in a line in the main scanning direction, but the number of lens sensors may be four or more. Good. Also in this case, the interval between the lens sensors is adjusted so that all the lens sensors are not arranged at equal intervals.
  • the tilt correction of the lens 4 is performed after the image receiving layer is formed.
  • the timing for performing the tilt correction is not particularly limited as long as the image is not formed for each color. You may carry out before forming.
  • the tilt of the lens 4 is corrected by rotating the clamper 23 using the clamper driving mechanism 25 shown in FIG. 5, but other posture adjusting mechanisms may be used.
  • the two-line heating element arrays are arranged adjacent to each other. However, in order to eliminate the thermal effect between the respective heating element arrays, an appropriate interval is provided between the two-line heating element arrays. It may be provided. Further, an image receiving layer, a plurality of types of ink layers, and a back layer may be sequentially formed on one film.
  • a line printer has been described.
  • the present invention can also be used for a serial printer.
  • the present invention is not limited to recording a viewpoint image for recording a stereoscopic image, and can be used for recording so-called changing in which an image that can be observed changes by shifting the observation position.
  • the present invention can be used for a thermal transfer type thermal printer, an ink jet printer, and the like in addition to a sublimation type thermal printer.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Stereoscopic And Panoramic Photography (AREA)
  • Handling Of Cut Paper (AREA)
  • Handling Of Sheets (AREA)
  • Electronic Switches (AREA)
PCT/JP2010/067347 2010-01-28 2010-10-04 プリンタ WO2011092896A1 (ja)

Priority Applications (3)

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JP2011508737A JP4774474B1 (ja) 2010-01-28 2010-10-04 プリンタ
US13/121,945 US8217972B2 (en) 2010-01-28 2010-10-04 Printer
CN2010800048886A CN102282512A (zh) 2010-01-28 2010-10-04 打印机

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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JP2010-017106 2010-01-28
JP2010017106 2010-01-28

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WO2011092896A1 true WO2011092896A1 (ja) 2011-08-04

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JP2011153018A (ja) * 2010-01-28 2011-08-11 Fujifilm Corp プリンタ
US9242448B2 (en) * 2012-10-29 2016-01-26 Komori Corporation Printing press and printing method of lenticular lens sheet
JP6241219B2 (ja) * 2013-07-30 2017-12-06 セイコーエプソン株式会社 印刷装置
US10363756B1 (en) * 2018-05-17 2019-07-30 Xerox Corporation System and method for de-skewing substrates and laterally registering images on the substrates in a printer
GB202113751D0 (en) * 2021-09-27 2021-11-10 Fotostax Lenticular printer

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JPH07261120A (ja) * 1994-03-25 1995-10-13 Toppan Printing Co Ltd レンチキュラー・ディスプレイの製造方法
JPH10181954A (ja) * 1996-12-27 1998-07-07 Canon Inc シート材斜行矯正装置及び画像形成装置
JPH11322135A (ja) * 1998-05-19 1999-11-24 Mita Ind Co Ltd 用紙の斜め搬送補正装置

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JP3471930B2 (ja) 1994-11-10 2003-12-02 キヤノン株式会社 インクジェット記録装置
JP3310858B2 (ja) * 1995-05-11 2002-08-05 松下電器産業株式会社 画像データを印刷する装置
JP2000292871A (ja) 1999-04-08 2000-10-20 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 記録装置及びレンズシート及び画像鑑賞方法
JP2007076084A (ja) 2005-09-13 2007-03-29 Seiko Epson Corp 印刷装置、および、印刷方法
JP4337823B2 (ja) 2005-11-04 2009-09-30 セイコーエプソン株式会社 プリンタおよび印刷方法
JP5194671B2 (ja) * 2007-09-25 2013-05-08 セイコーエプソン株式会社 記録装置
US8136938B2 (en) * 2009-05-19 2012-03-20 William Karszes System and method for printing on lenticular sheets
JP2011075791A (ja) * 2009-09-30 2011-04-14 Fujifilm Corp プリンタ及びプリント方法

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH07261120A (ja) * 1994-03-25 1995-10-13 Toppan Printing Co Ltd レンチキュラー・ディスプレイの製造方法
JPH10181954A (ja) * 1996-12-27 1998-07-07 Canon Inc シート材斜行矯正装置及び画像形成装置
JPH11322135A (ja) * 1998-05-19 1999-11-24 Mita Ind Co Ltd 用紙の斜め搬送補正装置

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US20110285974A1 (en) 2011-11-24
JPWO2011092896A1 (ja) 2013-05-30
CN102282512A (zh) 2011-12-14
US8217972B2 (en) 2012-07-10
JP4774474B1 (ja) 2011-09-14

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